Education Defined by Pestalozzi
The nineteenth century has not been lacking in minds which have grasped, at least in part, the principles of Christian education. Thus writes Pestalozzi:
"Sound education stands before me symbolized by a tree planted near fertilizing waters. ... In the new-born child are hidden those faculties which are to unfold during life. The individual and separate organs of his being form themselves gradually into an harmonic whole, and build up humanity in the image of God." [1]
With this agrees Milton's definition of education. "The end, then, of learning," he says, "is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know: God aright, and out of that knowledge to love Him, to imitate Him, to be like Him, as we may the nearest by possessing our souls of true virtue, which being united to the heavenly grace of faith, makes up the highest perfection." This is similar to the definition given by the author of "Christian Education," that "the true object of education is to restore the image of God in the soul."
Christian education, then, is a spiritual education. In this sense the words of Pestalozzi, at the burial of his wife, are pathetic but weighty with significance. Turning to the coffin, he said tenderly: "We were shunned and despised by all; sickness and poverty bowed us down; and we ate dry bread with tears. What was it in those days of severe trial gave you and me strength to persevere and not lose hope? "Laying a copy of God's Word on her breast, he continued: "From this source you and I drew courage and strength and peace." [2]
Advocates of Christian education may to-day encounter the same sort of rebuff from the world; but God's Word stands as guide, expressing the principles to be followed by the educator.
The Bible As an Educator
Charles W. Dabney, Jr., president of the University of Tennessee, in an address gave utterance to these words. "The Bible is the best text-book of education, as of many other sciences. In it we read where Paul tells Timothy, his 'dearly beloved son in the faith,' that 'all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' Nowhere in literature or philosophy is there a better or clearer expression of the true purpose of education than this. The object of education is not pleasure, or comfort, or gain, though all these may and should result from it. The one true purpose in education is to prepare the man for 'good works.' It is a noble thing to develop a perfect soul, to thoroughly furnish a body, mind, and heart. ... Character building, conscience forming, then, is the main object of education. The teacher dare not neglect character, nor the college to provide for its development. We must always and everywhere, in every course and scheme of study, provide those methods and agencies which shall develop the character of the pupil along with his other powers. How, then, shall we develop character in our pupils? What are the methods and the agencies for doing this? This is the crucial question of this age, as of every age. To this question all the ages give but one answer, and that is Christianity. The world has had many teachers of science, art, and philosophy, but only one teacher of righteousness, and He was Jesus Christ, the Son of God."
The many teachers of science, art, and philosophy, have, by their systems of education, led men away from the knowledge of God, the wisdom which is eternal life. If the education of Christ is to be accepted, as suggested by Professor Dabney, His word, the Bible, must be recognized as the Book of books, the guide in all investigation, the interpreter of all phenomena.
Christian Schools Needed
Much is said concerning the moral education which every child should receive. Parents realize that the boy or girl who grows to maturity with only a physical or intellectual education is either a pugilist or a fit subject for the penitentiary, and hence they insist that the spiritual nature should receive some attention. But where is this spiritual education to be obtained? State schools have no right to give such training; indeed, they cannot do it. True, they have attempted it, but it is a miserable failure. Protestants should no longer make the demand. The time has come for them to see that they should establish schools, whose object it is to develop character. These schools should receive support independent of the state; they should be free to follow methods entirely different from the formalism of the papal system; their course of instruction should meet the individual needs of the pupils, and be of a character which will develop, Christians. To accomplish such results, the Word of God must be taken from the dust, and placed in the curriculum, not as a mere reference book of Jewish antiquities, but, as it is indeed and in truth, the light whose rays encircle the world. "The Holy Scriptures must be the Alpha and Omega of Christian schools," wrote Comenius. Christ must be the teacher.
The men thus far quoted have followed the light which shone upon their pathway. To-day we may gather the scattered gems of truth left by them; but, better far, we may go direct to the Word itself, and the Spirit of truth will guide into the paths of Christian education. As taught by Froebel, "The spiritual and physical development do not go on separately in childhood, but the two are closely bound up with each other."
Man's Threefold Nature
The human being has a threefold nature,--the physical, the mental, and the spiritual; and Christian education so develops these that they sustain the proper relation one to another. The spiritual nature was the controlling power in the man made in God's image. In the degeneration of the race, he lost his spiritual insight, and passed first to the intellectual plane, then to the physical. This is seen in the history before the flood. Eden life was a spiritual existence; Adam's life after the fall was less spiritual, and gradually his descendants came to live on the mental plane. There were master minds in the antediluvian world. Men had no need of books, so strong was the memory and so keen the insight. Through further disobedience, through an education which strengthened reason rather than faith, men sank to the physical plane instead of rising to the spiritual, until in due time the earth was destroyed by water.
Education Since the Time of Christ
The same planes of existence are distinguishable in all ages since the flood, but Christ alone rose to the purely spiritual level. Israel as a nation might have so lived had true educational methods been followed. Israel falling, the offer was made to the Christian church. Age by age that body has refused to live a spiritual life, or, accepting the proffered gift, has attempted to rise without complying with the necessary conditions,--absolute faith in God's Word and strict compliance with his commands. The Reformation again turned men's eyes toward a spiritual education, and American Protestants had the best opportunity ever offered man to return to the original design of the Creator. Failure is again the verdict of the recording angel. Time hastens on, and the last gospel message is going to the world; but before a people can be prepared for the setting up of Christ's kingdom, they must be educated according to the principles of Christian education, for this is the foundation of all government as well as of all religion.
What is Christian education? Since its object is the training of a human being for life eternal, and that existence is a spiritual life, the spiritual must be the predominating feature of the education. When the spiritual leads, the intellectual and physical take their proper positions. The inner or spiritual man feeds only upon truth, absolute truth; not theory nor speculation, but truth. "Thy word is truth." The Word of God must then be the basis of all Christian education, the science of salvation the central theme.
The Test
Since God reveals his character in two ways, in his Word and in his works, the Bible must be the first book in Christian education, and the book of nature next. Many educators have seen the value of the book of nature, and to-day nature-study forms a large part of the course of instruction in all grades of schools. It may be asked, Is not this, then, Christian education? We reply, Does it restore in men the image of God? If so, it passes the test. But it cannot be said to do this, and therefore it falls short. Wherein, then, lies the difficulty in modern nature-teaching, or the sciences in general? Read some of our modern text-books in science. They readily reveal the answer.
Astronomy as Taught Denies the Bible
Young's General Astronomy reads:
"Section 908. Origin of the Nebular Hypothesis.--Now this [the present condition] is evidently a good arrangement for a planetary system, and therefore some have inferred that the Deity made it so, perfect from the first. But to one who considers the way in which other perfect, works of nature usually come to perfection--their processes of growth and development--this explanation seems improbable. It appears far more likely that the planetary system grew than that it was built outright. ... In its main idea that the solar system once existed as a nebulous mass, and has reached its present state as the result of a series of purely physical processes, it seems certain to prove correct, and it forms the foundation of all the current speculations upon the subject.
"Section 909. La Place's Theory.--(a) He supposed that at some past time, which may be taken as a starting point of our system's history, ... the matter collected in the sun and planets was in the form of a nebula. (b) This nebula was a cloud of intensely heated gas, perhaps hotter, as he supposed, than the sun is now. (c) This nebula, under the action of its own gravitation, assumed an approximately globular form, with a rotation around its axis," etc., etc.
The student must decide whether he will base his study of the heavens and the earth--the study of astronomy, geography, and geology, as well as zoology, and botany indirectly--on this hypothesis, which, we are told, "forms the foundation of all current speculations upon the subject;" or whether he will turn from these reasonable explanations for the existence of things, and take the plain Word of truth, which says, "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made;" "He spake and it was; he commanded and it stood fast," together with the explanation as given in Genesis and elsewhere in the Scriptures.
Faith and finite reason face each other; the education of the world takes reason; Christian education is based upon faith in God's Word. Which will develop character? Why is it that modern science-study does not lead to God? -- IN THE EVOLUTIONARY TEACHING OF THE NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS YOU HAVE ONE ANSWER.
Evolution As Taught In Zoology
Picking up an ordinary text-book in zoology, we read:
"The earliest member of the series directly leading up to the horse was eohippus, an older Eocene form about as large as a fox, which had four well-developed toes and the rudiments of a fifth on each forefoot, and three toes behind. In later Eocene beds appeared an animal of similar size, but with only four toes in front and three behind. In newer beds, i. e., lower Miocene, are found the remains of Eohippus, which was as large as a sheep and had three toes and the splint of another in each forefoot. ... The succeeding forms were still more horse-like." [3]
Next they find a donkey-like animal, and later "a true equips, as large as the existing horse, appears just above the horizon, and the series is complete." [4]
If the horse tribe has evolved from a fox-like animal, it is little wonder that men trace their origin to the monkey tribe; but those who wish God's character, take by faith the statement that "in the image of God created He him."
Such theories form the basis for the generally adopted classification of the entire vegetable and animal worlds. Christian education demands new text-books, based upon the truths of God's Word.
Dana on Origin of Species
From Dana, the recognized authority on geology, the following sentences are quoted: "Life commenced among plants, in seaweeds; and it ended in palms, oaks, elms, the orange, rose, etc. It commenced among animals in lingulae (mollusks standing on a stem like a plant), crinoids, worms, and tribolites, and probably earlier in the simple systemless protozoans; it ended in man." For this development, he says, "Time is long."
In a paragraph on "Progress Always the Gradual Unfolding of a System," are the words:
"There were higher and lower species appearing through all the ages, but the successive populations were still, in their general range, of higher and higher grade; and thus the progress was ever upward. The type or plan of vegetation, and the four grand types or plans of animal life, the radiate, molluscan, articulate, and vertebrate, were each displayed under multitudes of tribes and species, rising in rank with the progress of time ... Its progress should be, as zoological history attests, a development, an unfolding, an evolution."
In the study of this evolution in animal life, he says, "The progress in the system of life is a progress in cephalization," and he gives several illustrations, as the passage from tadpole to frog; from lobster to crab, from worm to insect, etc. Such teachers speak always of the evolution from the lower to the higher forms of life, but leave retrogression entirely out of their reckoning.
To those who offer the Sacred Record in opposition to his so-called geological proofs, Dana says: "The Biblical student finds, in the first chapter of Genesis, positive statement with regard to the creation of living beings. But these statements are often misunderstood; for they really leave the question as to the operation of natural causes for the most part an open one,--as asserted by Augustine, among the Fathers of the church and by some Biblical interpreters of the present day ... In view of the whole subject, the following appears to be the conclusions most likely to be sustained by further research: The evolution of the system of life went forward through derivation of species from species, according to usual methods, not yet clearly understood, AND WITH FEW OCCASIONS FOR SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION," etc.
Thus have the truths in God's great lesson book of nature been misinterpreted. It was a step in the right direction when the mechanical drill of the classics was dropped, and nature studies substituted; but God's Word must take its place as the interpreter of nature and natural phenomena, or the theory of evolution is the natural result, and this will form no part of Christian education.
Protestant parents, are your children learning to see in the visible things about them the emblems of the invisible, even the eternal power and godhead? If not, why do you not put them where they will? This is their salvation.
Underlying Principles Neglected
The exaltation of detail and the belittling of principles is a common error in educational systems. This is seen in all departments of learning. Not only is it exemplified in the exaltation of the mental and the physical above the spiritual, but the same method is employed in the detail work of the class room. This is in essence papal education. Christian education requires teachers to reverse the order throughout the whole course of instruction.
To illustrate the thought: There are a few fundamental principles which govern the universe. Such is the statement of the truth, "The love of Christ constraineth us," which contains within it the whole explanation of the force of gravity, adhesion, cohesion, molecular attraction, chemical affinity, human love, and the law of sex, and is therefore illustrated in physics, chemistry, mineralogy, biology,--in fact, in all the sciences. Again the second great commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," is the statement of a principle which underlies all history, civil government, and political and social science. If followed, it will solve all international difficulties, as well as prevent personal animosity; it will blot out the evils of society, breaking down the barrier between poverty and riches; trusts would never exist, trades unions would be unnecessary, and monopolies unknown, if the one law of Jehovah were only learned. Of how much greater value, then, is the study of such principles than all the theories which may be proposed by men for international arbitration, or all the laws which may be passed in legislative halls concerning the equal rights of men and the proper means of governing States, Territories, or acquired possessions.
But this is Christian education, and lessons such as this are learned only when the truth is written on the heart by the pen of the Spirit. It is thus that a spiritual education, the higher birth of which the Saviour spoke, rises above the education of the world as far as heaven is above the earth. When these and kindred principles are made the central thought, all the facts which the pupil may be able to learn in a lifetime, will but serve to impress the truth more firmly on his life.
Deductions from Facts Not Always Correct
All the facts which it is possible for man to gather in a lifetime, added to all that are gathered by generation after generation, are but illustrations of a few principles. Modern teaching deals almost wholly with facts; it requires children, from the time they enter school until they are graduated, to heap together facts. Process is the great theme in mathematics; facts, facts, facts, are the things sought for in the whole realm of natural science. History is but the study of still more facts, and where generalizations or classifications are made, they are theories formulated from the facts gathered. But man is never able to collect all the facts; he is never sure that his conclusions have reached absolute truth. The truth of the matter is, the classifications thus formed are only partially correct, and the discovery of a few more facts overthrows the finespun theories of the best of scientists. It is thus constantly in astronomy, in botany, in zoology, and in biology. Because of new discoveries, the physician of yesterday is wholly wrong in the eyes of the physician of to-day. To-morrow the bright light of to-day will be superseded by some other luminary. This is the result of inductive reasoning based on sense perception.
This thought is well expressed by Hinsdale, who says:
"We observe and register phenomena, classify facts, deduce conclusions and laws, and build up systems; but in science and philosophy we return to the subject again and again; we seek to verify our facts and test our conclusions, and when we have finished, we are not sure, save in a limited sphere, of our results. Some of the best-known sciences have been largely reorganized within the last few years. We have the 'new chemistry,' the 'new astronomy,' the 'new political economy,' and even the 'new mathematics.' Particularly in the field of human conduct, where man's will is the governing faculty, we are often uncertain of our way and sometimes are wholly lost." [5]
Sense Perception Often Incorrect
The shifting foundation upon which such knowledge rests is well illustrated by the tests which the human being is able to make with the organs of sense. Water of 98° is hot to the hand that has been accustomed to a temperature of 45°, but cool to the hand which is just taken from water of 112°. An orange is sweet to the man who has been eating a stronger acid, but sour to the palate accustomed to sugar. The eye which has been used in a dimly lighted room is dazzled by the noonday glare, and judging of the size of a star by sight we would not conceive it to be a sun. The knowledge gained by the senses is only partially true,--it is not absolute truth; and the scientific theories propounded by minds which have reasoned from these inaccurate data cannot fail to fall short of absolute truth. It may be knowledge; it is not wisdom.
Faith Is Substance, Not Theory
Christian education approaches nature from the opposite direction. With a mind open to receive truth, it grasps by faith the statement of a universal principle. The spiritual law is the thing sought, and the corresponding physical law is compared with it. Once found, every fact which is learned, every observation made, but shows more clearly the working of that law in the spiritual world. For such teaching, faith is an indispensable attribute. Experiment is not discouraged, but strongly encouraged; reason is not laid aside, but the mind is called upon to reason on subjects grander and nobler than any deductions which can possibly result from the opposite manner of approaching truth.
This is the ideal in Christian education, the point toward which the Christian teacher is leading his pupils. In case of unbelief, or in dealing with the heathen, the mind must first be approached through the avenues of the senses, until the Spirit of God arouses the inner eye of faith. This is merely preliminary, and should not long continue. Children are not given credit for having the faith they really do possess, and are therefore held to the inductive method by educators long after their minds and hearts are capable of grasping truth, and when it would be found that the deductive method would produce a much more rapid growth of mental and spiritual power than is now seen.
The Christian Teacher
This suggests the qualifications necessary on the part of a teacher. Remembering that this education is of a spiritual nature, the teacher himself must be connected with truth by an unwavering faith.
When Nicodemus, the representative of higher education in the schools of Jerusalem, interviewed Christ, the new Teacher who had appeared in their midst, and whose teaching was attended by a power unknown to the educators of the day, the learned man said, "Rabbi, we know Thou art a teacher sent of God." "But how can these things be? "The heavenly Teacher outlined to him the secrets of His educational system, telling Nicodemus that it was not based on sight, but on faith; that the spiritual was first, and, when so made, the rest would follow. Then came the query, "How can it be? "To which Christ replied, "If I told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?" "Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?"
In view of these thoughts, it is not strange that the study of the sciences in a Christian school will differ widely from the course offered in the same department of learning in an institution where the object of education is wholly different.
Physiology the Central Science
Discarding the evolutionary theory which pervades the teaching of all institutions where education is not wholly based on the Word of God, man, created in the image of God, is recognized as the highest manifestation of creative power. The life of God is the first study; that life, as manifested in man, is the next, and physiology takes its place as the center of all science-study. This is a study of life in all its manifestations, beginning with the spiritual, and extending to the mental and physical. Here, as elsewhere, the laws which govern the spiritual nature have their types in the other two natures; and when once the central truth of life, an abundance of life, is grasped, the study of physiology becomes not the study of dead forms, mere facts, but a soul-study, which includes the home of the inner man and all the machinery which the soul manipulates. Thus considered, from this center (physiology) extend rays, like the spokes of a wheel, each representing another science, until within that broad circle represented by these radii, are included all the physical as well as all the metaphysical sciences.
It will be seen that this mode of correlating the sciences cures at once the mistake of the age,--the cramming system,--which results from a neglect of manual training and from the study of a multiplicity of books, crowded with facts which must be stored in the mind of the student.
Correlation of Sciences
By placing physiology as the center of the circle, and correlating there-with all other sciences, another advantage arises, for that circle includes within itself the languages and mathematics. These latter are but helps in the study of the thought-bearing subjects,--the Bible and the sciences,--and instead of being studied as primary subjects, should be used as a means to an end. Reading, writing, spelling, grammar, rhetoric, and literature, and mathematics, from arithmetic to general geometry and calculus, are but means of expressing truths gained in the study of the revealed Word and the book of nature. The simplicity of the system will appeal to the mind of any educator, for it is a plan long sought for. The one thing lacking among those who have experimented with such methods has been the central subject, God's Word. Having truth as the basis for the correlation, the problem, so far as methods are concerned, is practically solved.
The great and pressing need is for teachers who can execute the plan. No narrow mind will be equal to the task. Again, as a system of true education is approached, is seen the exalted position to which those who teach are called.
The Basis of Every Educational Effort
Before passing the subject of physiology it is well to consider the meaning of the expression that this subject "should be the basis of every educational effort." Text-book study of physiology, it is clear, cannot cover this requirement. The fact is that book-study is but a small part of Christian education. True education is life, and he who learns much must live much. The food eaten, the manner of clothing the body, the study, exercise, mental habits, physical habits, manual training, in fact, every phase of life is a part of the study of physiology and hygiene, and these subjects must one and all receive due consideration by the Christian educator.
Manual Training and Education
Manual training is becoming popular in many of our city schools, but the work offered in a Christian school will differ from that of the worldly school in this,--the latter is training the hand or the eye only, the former is building character by giving à trade that enables the student to be self-supporting and independent. In that the aims are different, the methods must differ, although the matter taught may in many cases be identical.
Healthful Diet and Dress
Healthful living is receiving attention in many schools. The Christian school, while teaching the same subject, will have as its object a preparation for eternal life. The subject, taught without faith, will bring only increased physical and mental activity. The spiritual nature can be reached alone by that education which is based on faith.
Need of Books
Simply a casual investigation of the subject of Christian education reveals the need of books for the guidance of teachers who undertake to direct the growth of the child. With proper study-books, based upon the eternal principles of truth revealed in the Scriptures, the work which is now in its infancy would make much more rapid and substantial progress.
The Home School
Parents who sense the responsibility resting upon them in the rearing of children for the kingdom of heaven are anxious to know when and where the principles of Christian education can be carried out. The beauty of the system is nowhere more vividly protrayed than in the recognition which it gives to the home and the duty of parents toward their children in the matter of education.
In spite of the fact that much is said relative to the importance of educating for the state, the words of Herbert Spencer give a clear idea of the home as the center of the true system. He says:
"As the family comes before the state in order of time--as the bringing up of children is possible before the state exists, or when it has ceased to be, whereas the state is rendered possible only by the bringing up of children, it follows that the duties of the parent demand closer attention than those of the citizen."
The plan of Christian education goes a little farther, and recognizing the earthly family as a type of the heavenly, places the parents in God's place to the young children; hence the home should be the only school and "the parents should be the only teachers of their children until they have reached eight or ten years of age."
Lessons for the Home School
"The mother should find time to cultivate in herself and in her children a love for the beautiful buds and opening flowers. ... The only schoolroom for children from eight to ten years of age should be in the open air, amid the opening flowers and nature's beautiful scenery. And their only text-book should be the treasures of nature."
The Church School
With such a training, the first ten years the child should develop a strong body and a strong mind. He should then be able to spend the next five or six years under the instruction of a consecrated Christian teacher in an elementary school, where teacher and parents may co-operate. The threefold nature must be developed so that when the age of manhood or womanhood is reached, strength of character has also been gained.
The Industrial School
The youth should then continue his mental culture in some industrial school, located in the country, where there is freedom from the evils of city life, and where the rapidly developing physical nature can be correctly guided into lines of practical duties which will fit him for real life. In the meantime, mental culture and spiritual training are continued, for character is being formed for eternity.
Training School for Christian Workers
The young man or woman of twenty or twenty-two should be prepared to select a life-work, and the special training needed can be received in a training school, which in Christian education will be for Christian workers. Such a school will be necessary; for the education thus outlined, extending from infancy over twenty years, cannot fail to develop a character which chooses Christian work as the life occupation. A short training in a higher institution, which in character is a school of the prophets, should so round out the nature already forming that the young person goes out an ambassador for Christ, willing to be used in any capacity by the Commander of the heavenly host, whether it be on the farm, at the carpenter's bench, or in the pulpit; for his soul is knit to the King of heaven, as was David's to Jonathan's. Such a student is prepared for active service, either on earth or in the kingdom of our God; for he is one with the Father and his Son.
"Comenius divided the first twenty-four years of life into four periods, to each of which he would assign a special school, thus:--
"1. For infancy, the school should be the mother's knee.
"2. For childhood the school should be the vernacular school.
"3. For boyhood, the Latin school or gymnasium.
"4. For youth, the university and travel.
"A mother should exist in every house, a vernacular school in every hamlet and village, a gymnasium in every city, and a university in every kingdom or in every province. ... The mother and the vernacular school embrace all the young of both sexes. The Latin school gives a more thorough education to those who aspire higher than the workshop; while the university trains up the teachers and the learned men of the future, that our churches, schools, and states may never lack suitable leaders."
In the system known as Christian education the division is about the same, the years of student life extending perhaps to thirty instead of twenty four, with this division: the first ten years are spent in the home school; from ten to fifteen in the church school; from fifteen to twenty in the industrial school, and the years from twenty to twenty-five or even thirty are devoted to study and active work in the training school for workers.
Should Protestants Educate?
The time now is when those who are true Protestants will demand Christian education, and when no sacrifice will be considered too great for the accomplishment of that object. The prophecy of Zechariah, recorded in the ninth chapter, gives the words of God concerning the contest to take place near the close of time between the sons of Greece and the sons of Zion. "Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope; even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; when I have bent Judah for Me, filled the bow with Ephraim, AND RAISED UP THY SONS, O ZION, AGAINST THY SONS, O GREECE."
Greece is recognized in the Scriptures as emblematic of worldly wisdom, (1 Corinthians 1) but by that wisdom the world knew not God; in fact, by that wisdom the world was led away from God. God will, then, raise up the sons of Zion, the representatives of His wisdom--the divine philosophy--against the sons of Greece, or the students of the wisdom of the world; and in the final conflict, when truth wins, it will be evident that those who are numbered with the victors have forsaken the wisdom of Greece for the wisdom of God. It is not theory, but the most solemn fact, that the preparation for a life with God demands that we and our children receive a far different education than has been offered in the past. If we wish the highest culture, if we long for soul development, our education must be spiritual in nature; we must leave the low, turbid waters of the valley for the snow waters of Lebanon. This is Christian education.
Protestants to-day see their children slipping from the fold. Every inducement in the way of entertainments, form, ceremony, and oratory is used to attract the youth to the church, but still the world allures them. Ministers are beginning to search for the reason, and are attributing it to the character of the education now given in our schools; in saying this, they strike at the root of the trouble. Protestantism is dying; the form of godliness, which denies the power thereof, is spreading its dark mantle over the earth. It is in vain that we point to stately edifices or noted divines; if we cannot recognize the difficulty, it but proves that we are ourselves under the cloud, and recovery is all but impossible.
We talk of the spread of Christianity; we give of our means for the conversion of the heathen, while our children perish within our very homes. The spirit and power of Elias, which was to accompany the preaching of the kingdom of Christ, was "to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children."
Cries the prophet Joel, "Gather the children, and those that suck the breast. ... Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage [the children] to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them."
Ministers, fathers, mothers, look to the welfare of your children, or the cause of Protestantism is lost in America. Take up your first, your all-important duty, and give your children a Christian education, and instead of a decline in church membership as now reported, there will be an increase; instead of formalism, there will be life. This will be the means of bringing the heathen to your door, and to a knowledge of the gospel.
"Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold; all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy desolate places and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow-by reason of the inhabitants. ... The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, the place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate? ... Who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? Thus saith the Lord God, Behold! I will lift up Mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their faces toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet. ... For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy CHILDREN." (Isa. 49:18-25)
How will He save the children?--"ALL THY CHILDREN SHALL BE TAUGHT OF THE LORD." When will the Gentiles come bringing their children to supply the places of those now lost?--When Protestants can show to the Gentiles that they have a system of education which is free from the errors now so prevalent; when they can teach the Gentiles the truth.
"Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles." (Isa. 54:1-3)
When shall these things be? The same chapter of Isaiah answers. When "all thy children shall be taught of the Lord." When Protestants educate according to the principles of true Protestantism, then will the words of the same prophet, recorded in the sixtieth chapter, be fulfilled. "Arise, be enlightened, for thy light cometh. ... The Gentiles shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. ... Thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side." (Isa. 60:1-4, mar)
Christ came, fulfilling in every particular the prophecies quoted." As thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world," are the words of Christ to His church. As Christ was a teacher, so that church which does the work which the Christian church must do, will have a system of education, and its members will be educators indeed.
Of Christ as a teacher it is written, "He raised Himself above all others whom millions to-day regard as their grandest teachers. Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, to say nothing of Greek and Roman sages, are not worthy to be compared with Christ." Says Paroz: "Jesus Christ, in founding a new religion, has laid the foundation of a new education in the bosom of humanity."
"In lowliness and humility," writes Dr. Schaff, "in the form of a servant as to the flesh, yet effulgent with divine glory, the Saviour came forth from a despised corner of the earth; destroyed the power of evil in our nature; realized in His spotless life, and in His sufferings, the highest idea of virtue and piety, lifted the world with His pierced hands out of its distress; reconciled men to God, and gave a new direction to the whole current of history."
It is the education which He taught, which was His very life even in the courts of heaven, which Protestants are now entreated to accept. "To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts."
Where are the Protestants who are true to the name? Where are the schools which will teach the things of God? Where are the teachers who forsake secular methods, as did the Reformers, to become teachers for Christ?
Earth with its inhabitants is to the heart of God the most precious part of the creation. As a recreant child draws harder on the parent's sympathy, so the world; because of the sinfulness of sin, has brought heaven and earth in touch. The universe sees streaming from the throne rays of light and love, pointing to the one spot in all creation where sin abounds. They tell the story of the cross. The perfect harmony which forms the "music of the spheres," which was marred when man fell, will again pervade all space when the plan of salvation is complete, and our earth again joins in the great chorus of the sons of God.
Truth Revealed in the Last Days
For six thousand years creation has groaned, waiting for our redemption. The completion of the plan draws nigh, and for the final struggle everything is now assuming an intensity never before seen.
Come to the Living Waters
Principles of truth, for centuries hidden, or known only in part, will again shine forth in their original splendor. The wisdom of the ages will be manifest in the closing era of the world's history. True, this wisdom will often appear but "foolishness" in the eyes of those who oppose truth; but spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and the Spirit of the Holy One will once more brood over the whole earth, taking up its abode in those hearts which beat in unison with the strains of heaven. Christian education binds earth to heaven. The wise in heart will return to the God-given system of education, choosing "the fountains of living waters" instead of hewing "them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water." (Jer. 2:13)
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